A basic law of physics is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The reaction, or recoil, of firing a large caliber gun can be quite significant and undesirable.
Mechanisms have been made which store up the energy produced by a recoiling gun part in a spring or similar shock absorber. The shock-absorbing spring may be situated to absorb the recoil directly, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,360, or indirectly by transfer through cables and pulleys, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 789,806.
My previous U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,595, issued May 14, 1991, relates to a recoil redirecting mechanism for a gun which utilizes a series of pulleys and cable to forwardly shift a counterweight as a gun barrel assembly is shifted rearwardly in response to recoil forces. In that mechanism, forward movement of a block assembly is approximately half the rearward travel distance of the gun barrel assembly.